The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: Kazakstan is currently facing a tobacco epidemic, where a high prevalence of tobacco smoking is manifested in high lung cancer rates. Lung cancer is already the first leading cause of cancer that shows annual growth of 1% and the second leading cause of mortality in Kazakstan. The objective of this study is to calculate the cost of lung cancer treatment, as a part reflection of the burden of tobacco smoking in the health care sector of Kazakstan

Methods: Cost data was collected from six health care facilities, providing inpatient and outpatient services to lung cancer patients. Data was collected from the disease histories relating to surgery, chemo, radiotherapy and palliative care of the lung cancer patients (n=128) with >10 years smoking history, diagnosed between January 2004 and June 2005. A series of the focused interviews (n=54) with medical and administrative personnel, as well as the official reports of the epidemiological department, health archive, finance and account offices, etc were reviewed and analyzed. The vast array of the epidemiological, medical and economic data was entered into a spreadsheet model.

Results: The analysis estimated the overall treatment costs of a lung cancer case to be $USD 8052.3, including lung cancer surgery ($USD 2,491), radiotherapy ($USD 1,452), chemotherapy ($USD 2,713), follow-up ambulatory care ($USD 195) and palliative care ($USD 1200.4). Already in 2004, the burden of health care costs borne by the health sector of treating the 4103 lung cancer cases in Kazakhstan amounted to $USD 33,035,279 dollars.